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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22688698">Soulmated in Three Parts</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caitriona_3/pseuds/Caiti'>Caiti (Caitriona_3)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Marvel Fluff Bingo 2020, Multi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 09:56:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,988</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22688698</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caitriona_3/pseuds/Caiti</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Words on the skin might promise a soulmate, but the universe never does the expected.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton/Darcy Lewis</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>205</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Marvel Fluff Bingo</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Soulmated in Three Parts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/uconnhuskiesfan_wintershockship/gifts">uconnhuskiesfan_wintershockship</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Some of the first words taken from daily-prompts on tumblr.</p><p>If you'd like to request one of my open bingos, please see <a href="https://caitriona-3.tumblr.com/post/190539983617/too-many-bingo-cards">HERE</a></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
    <a href="https://imgur.com/Snb1HIF">
      
    </a>
  </p>
</div><i>
  <br/>
  <b>NEW MEXICO</b>
  <br/>
</i><p>After the longest week of her life, Darcy Lewis dragged herself up to the roof of the lab, desperate to get away from the insanity of the ‘Science!’ argument going on inside.  Jane and Eric both needed naps but refused to shut off their enormous brains long enough to let their bodily needs catch up with them.  Instead their tempers began to fray as they snipped at each other over miniscule details of readings.  She’d decided to get some fresh air before they started pulling her into the mix.  No way did she intend to become the tug of war between two geniuses.</p><p>Thank you, but no.</p><p>Dropping into one of the lawn chairs, she leaned her head back and focused on the stars overheard.  She’d always loved looking at the stars, but now . . . now she knew they held more than she’d ever dreamed.  </p><p>When a shadow separated itself from the night and moved closer, she glanced around just long enough to gauge the threat level.  Given the insignia on his uniform – the eagle of the jack-booted thugs – she figured he probably didn’t mean her any harm.  After all, they’d just finished moving all of Jane’s stuff back into her lab.  None of them wanted to piss off the boss lady again; not when she might figure out how to bring Thor back.</p><p>He crouched down beside her, saying nothing and seeming content to just share her perch on the roof.  </p><p>That worked well enough for her.  Sometimes she might like to be alone, but usually she preferred company.  “If you stare at a star long enough, it will start to move,” she confided.</p><p>She felt his eyes zero in on her and the power of that focus pulled her attention away from the night sky.  Intense blue eyes scanned her face with some undefinable <i>something</i> moving in the dark color.  It took another moment, and her raised eyebrows, before he gave her a crooked smile.  “So, you’re the reason I became a night owl.”</p><p>Her own eyes went wide at his words, one hand moving to her right forearm.  “Oh!”</p><p>Crinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes as his smile deepened.  “Here’s hoping that’s a good ‘oh’,” he chuckled.  Then he pulled up his own right sleeve and she saw her curly handwriting etched along the inside of his arm.  “Started star-gazing not long after this appeared.”</p><p>“I always blamed you for my caffeine addiction,” she admitted, tugging up her own sleeve to show his chicken scratch.</p><p>Reaching out to touch the writing, he locked gazes with her.  “And how do you take your coffee?”</p><p>“Mexican mocha.”  When he laughed, she gave him a warm smile.  “I’m Darcy Lewis.”  Which he probably already knew – hello, covert agency anyone? – but her mother had drummed <i>some</i> manners into her.</p><p>“Clint Barton.” Shifting a little in his crouch, he offered her his hand.  “May I bring you some coffee in the morning?”</p><p>“You may,” she agreed, a blush climbing up her cheeks as he kept her hand wrapped in his.  “Though . . . if you really want to be my hero, you’ll bring for the whole lab.”  One of his eyebrows cocked up and she shrugged.  “Jane and Eric are going to crash soon, but they’ll still somehow be up way too early.”</p><p>“How about you text me the order and I’ll take care of it?” he offered.  </p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Yeah, really.”</p><p>Later, as Darcy climbed into bed, her phone contact list now expanded by one, she could only grin into the darkness at her new soulmate.  Then she made a mental note to ask him if he had a second soulmate too . . . and if so, had he met them?</p><p>
  <i>
    <b>WASHINGTON, D.C.</b>
  </i>
</p><p>Watching his partner slip out the door, Clint Barton leaned against the wall and wondered how he’d managed to get pulled into this whole mess.  He should have been on his way to New York and Darcy, but when Natasha called, he switched his travel plans.  She and Steve needed to go handle the fallout from HYDRA’S infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D., so they wanted someone they both trusted to keep an eye on the Winter Soldier.  A ghost, a rumor, the boogeyman of the covert world – somehow, they’d managed to fight him to a standstill before bringing him out of the cold.</p><p>He would have preferred she stayed long enough to do some minimum introductions.  If this Soldier had the same instincts she did, Clint would end up having to talk him down at gunpoint . . . just like he’d done with her.</p><p>Arrow point for Natasha, but the concept remained the same.</p><p>Having that ghost turn out to be another long-lost fossil from the World War II era didn’t really surprise him, but Clint’s surreal-o-meter had been warped since the people who made up the Avengers began creating havoc in the real world.  Who could truly be surprised by much when they worked with people including a playboy philanthropist turned hero, a man with truly breathtaking anger management issues, a god-slash-alien (depending on your point of view), and Captain America?</p><p>Granted, he figured he’d started losing his ability to be surprised about the time he formed a tight working relationship with the deadliest woman on the planet, but, then again, he’d also always considered Natasha in a league of her own.</p><p>So, yeah, finding out that the vaunted Winter Soldier was actually James Buchanan Barnes?  Steve Rogers’ best friend Bucky?</p><p>Not so much of a stretch.</p><p>Movement from the bed brought him out of his mental ramblings in time to meet those ice blue eyes when they snapped open.  They did a quick sweep of the room before focusing on Clint.  He put a hand on the weapon hidden at the small of his back as he opened his mouth to say something, hopefully something that would defuse the potential explosion he saw igniting in that gaze.  But before hie could speak, the man surged towards him.  Pulling his gun, he trained his sights directly on the deadly face of the assassin.  </p><p>“This is how it always begins,” Clint sighed, his aim not wavering an inch.</p><p>The man blinked, slumping back against the upraised pillows as he stared at Clint.  “Facing off against assassins?”</p><p>Now <b>Clint</b> rocked back on his heels, the barrel of his gun dropping.  “I . . . do that a lot, actually,” he admitted, still gaping at the man.  “But . . . well, I meant me having to aim a weapon at a Russian assassin as I try and talk them into not attacking me.”</p><p>“You’re the one who flipped Natalya?”</p><p>“Natasha,” he corrected, holstering the weapon.  “And yeah.”</p><p>“No wonder she left you here.” </p><p>“Clint Barton.”</p><p>“I’m . . .” He paused, one hand coming up to rub at his forehead as he grimaced.  “I’m . . . I <i>was</i> called . . . Barnes.”</p><p>“Steve called you ‘Bucky’.” When the other man flinched at Clint’s words, he held up his hands in a pacifying gesture.  “If you’re not ready for that, maybe we could go with ‘James’?  That’s your name too.”</p><p>For a moment, the man who’d proven to be his unanticipated soulmate considered his words before nodding.  “That works,” he agreed.  “It . . . I don’t . . .”  He shook his head.  “I’m not Bucky.”</p><p>“You’ll find him again,” Clint promised.  “But in the meantime, we work on figuring out who you are now.”</p><p>“I’m dangerous,” James warned.</p><p>“So am I,” he shrugged.  “So’s pretty much everyone I’m involved in.”  His lips quirked into a wry smile.  “Hell, even my other soulmate’s dangerous . . . not that you’d think so to look at her.”</p><p>James lifted his metal hand to his right bicep.  “You’ve met her?”</p><p>Clint’s smile widened.  “Oh, this is going to be fun!”</p><p>
  <i>
    <b>NEW YORK CITY</b>
  </i>
</p><p>James Buchanan Barnes followed his soulmate into Avengers Tower, his clear gaze scanning each new space and watching for an attack. Despite the invitation he’d received from Tony Stark – of all people – to come to the tower, it still took Clint a good month to convince him to move in.  Even with Steve and Natasha’s encouragement, he couldn’t quite believe he’d be welcomed among these heroes.  Too much blood coated his hands . . . sometimes he woke in the dark, shaking as he felt the thick, almost viscous liquid running down his arm.  The flesh one anyway; his metal arm seemed to flex and cycle through a series of checks in response to his panic as his instincts teetered between fight or flight.  </p><p>Whenever that happened, Clint sat nearby and talked to him.  He talked for long hours in the darkness as James struggled with his own mind.  Sometimes the younger man discussed old missions or the places he’d seen during the circus.  </p><p>From a circus kid to a world-famous hero . . . James almost laughed as he stepped inside the elevator.</p><p>His memory might still be spotty, but he remembered Steve now – Steve both before and after.  It seemed to James that it was his fate to be surrounded by men who overcame impossible odds to do the right thing.</p><p>Maybe that’s what he needed.</p><p>He shifted in place as the elevator shot up.  When the archer put a hand on his shoulder, James leaned into it.  During those long talks in the deep of night, Clint would light up the room when he discussed their shared soulmate, a woman named Darcy.  Each of them shared that feminine cursive handwriting, and Clint had laughed when he read the words curving around James’ upper right arm.</p><p>“That sounds exactly like something she’d say,” he chuckled.</p><p>And now James would be meeting her . . . ready or not.</p><p>Soft music stirred the air as the elevator doors opened.  He followed Clint out into a large space highlighted by the floor-to-ceiling windows.  Clear sightlines, green plants, and neutral colors created a space that he almost described as . . . soothing.  His shoulders began to relax as he took his first deep breath since agreeing to come to New York.</p><p>Then he heard something more calming yet – a woman’s voice singing a song about endless love.  Turning his head, he tracked the voice to another room, separated from the main area by a partial wall.  From what he could see through the open space, the other area contained a kitchen.  His feet carried him forward before his brain could protest.  Clint’s soft footsteps followed him, but he paid no attention as he looked into the kitchen and spotted the woman.  Dark curls framed a gorgeous face which managed to hold a smile even as she sang along to the music pouring out of hidden speakers.  </p><p>He froze in place as he stared at her.  How could this woman with her innocent face be his . . . <i>their</i> soulmate?</p><p>As he felt Clint come up to his shoulder, he watched her spooning cherry pie filling into mini chocolate cake.  “Does pie filling really belong in cake?”</p><p>She spun, snatching up a clean wood spoon to point at him as her eyes narrowed.  ““You can’t even fathom the poetic value of cake.” Then she blinked.  “Wait . . . what did you say?”</p><p>“Darce, meet James,” Clint laughed, ducking out of the way of her absent-minded swat.  “James, this is Darcy.” Slipping around behind her, he wrapped an arm around her waist.  “And yeah, you heard right – he’s our third.”</p><p>“Wow.” Darcy turned her head to look at him before shifting her attention back to James.  “The universe must really like me.”</p><p>That startled a laugh out of him – rough, uneven, but real – and he stepped forward to touch her cheek.  “And here I was, thinking that should be my line.”  His eyes flickered between the two of them.  “If this is what fate’s been holding for me, then I guess I can figure <b>somebody</b> knew what they were doing.”</p><p>Smiles – one crooked, one brilliant – met his words and he could feel even more of his shadows fading away before the light promised by his soulmates.</p>
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